CAMPBELL FAMILY Justin Campbell is one of three candidates in the Palatka City Commission Group 2 race.

Palatka voters will have three choices Tuesday for one of their City Commission representatives.

In Group 2, incumbent Allegra Kitchens faces Robbi Correa and Justin Campbell in the non-partisan election.

A winner would be declared if any of the three receives 50 percent of the primary vote plus one. Then that winner faces write-in candidate Robin Cadle in the general election on Nov. 4.

Kitchens has been the Group 2 commissioner since 2006. A lifetime Palatka resident, she has a state real estate license and has worked with the Putnam County Property Appraiser’s Office from 1969 to 2005. She also has served on the Palatka Codes Enforcement Board and Palatka Better Place Plan Oversight Committee.

She said she is running again because she wants to continue representing residents because times have been tough due to the economy and the city has had to “tighten things up.”

“The one thing that disturbs me are the more stringent rules and regulations they are putting on the citizens in code enforcement,” Kitchens said. “The problem I have seen is that the commission is not doing what the majority of the citizens want. The commission should represent the citizens, and if a majority want or don’t want, they should do what the citizens want.”

Correa went to Rhode Island College, majoring in special education and history. She retired after 27 years with the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services as a special education teacher and administrator.

She and her husband moved to Palatka in 2007. She was a consultant with the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities from 2007 to 2009 and is now a downtown Palatka merchant and a licensed real estate agent.

She said she “loves” Palatka and has helped with some economic revitalization projects, so she wants to do more.

“There is not a lot of turnover and change [on the commission] and I think it is somewhat stagnant and we need that change and creative leadership,” Correa said. “There is so much potential and I am always willing to listen.”

Campbell is a Palatka High School and Florida State University graduate with a dual degree in criminal justice and international affairs.

He owns Campbell Consulting Group and is personal injury claims manager at the Hill law offices. He also is on the Palatka Planning Board and Police Athletic League. He said he joined the race because the commission needs representation for the younger voter.

“The younger generation has the ability to get us out to address the issues we have in the city,” Campbell said. “With our city being at a time of vital change, we need simple ways to overcome the obstacles. Change can’t be made if we are still doing the same thing.”

As for the issues facing the city, Kitchens said they are the same one that city leaders have had to deal with for years, with one of the most pressing being the old infrastructure.

“We have water and sewer lines, some dating back to 1886, and they need to be replaced, but to do all of them would be millions and millions,” Kitchens said. “… The city gets its funds mostly from ad valorem taxes, and like all the other small cities in Florida, we rely on that and we haven’t raised the millage. To get more money to help the city we have had to raise the water rates and that has hurt the poorer citizens.”

Campbell said continuing downtown redevelopment will “stay on the radar” for the next year, while Putnam County’s problems with its landfill will continue to affect Palatka residents.

Correa said economic development and jobs are the big issues.

“We have one of the highest levels in the state of unemployment, so we need to set up some incentives to get companies to move here,” she said. “We need to market Palatka. … It also includes neighborhood revitalization. We have a lot of areas that are blighted. And we need fiscal stability for the city.”

The Nov. 4 general election ballot will include the Palatka mayor’s race with incumbent Vernon Myers running against Terrill Hill. The commission’s Group 4 race will be decided in November as Phil Leary seeks re-election against Rufus Borom.